


The Revelation of One Black Cat

by Goth-Bias (GothBias)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bad Parent Gabriel Agreste, F/M, Hurt Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Identity Reveal, Panic Attacks, Serious Injuries, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-25
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:01:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22408369
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GothBias/pseuds/Goth-Bias
Summary: Chat Noir has imagined dying before, but never has he imagined it would feel quite like this.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Alya Césaire, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Chloé Bourgeois, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Kagami Tsurugi, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Nino Lahiffe, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Plagg, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 27
Kudos: 365





	The Revelation of One Black Cat

Chat Noir has imagined dying before, but never has he imagined it would feel quite like this. The risk of dying is a part of the superhero gig, he supposes, especially with the role he takes up. With the way he jumps in Ladybug’s way so often, he figures it’s a miracle this is his first time truly dying.

He’s simply ceased to exist before, one minute there, and the next just  gone.  In a way, he’s always just believed that is how death would feel. One moment there, the next just gone.

That’s not how this feels. This feels like pain so intense he’s stopped feeling it, like his energy is being pulled from him with every second spent laid out on the pavement. Every staggering breath sounds like a coin rattling in a bottle, but he can’t stop trying to take those breaths that don’t quite reach his lungs.

Just a regular day, another akuma attack, but instead of getting up after being smacked into a building he just wilted. He was thrown into the sharp end of a metal beam and promptly fell to the concrete stories below. He thinks he might be bleeding or that he hit his head on the way down, he doesn’t know.

He thought his suit was supposed to make him indestructible, now he’s starting to think it’s only keeping him from falling apart inside it. Any normal human would’ve died upon impact, but here he is grasping for staggering breaths in an alleyway of the city he’s fought all these years for.

He sees red, but he can’t tell if there’s blood in his eyes or if he’s staring at Ladybug’s suit.

All he knows is that this  hurts  and he’s tired.

So he closes his eyes and lets himself go.

Blue. So many startling shades of blue that he imagines he must be staring at an endless sky or Ladybug’s eyes if the red surrounding the blue is anything to go by.

_ Always the hopeless romantic even in death, huh Adrien?  _ He thinks to himself.  _ I guess this is the part where my life flashes before my eyes. _

But there’s not so many flashes so much as ghosted feelings and memories slowly trickling by.

_ Ladybug _ .

Her knuckles against his lips. Her pigtails knocked astray from the Paris wind and cheeks reddened from the cold night air. Her smile, her laugh, the way she rolls her eyes at him after a pun. The moment during Stoneheart when he realized he was in love for the first time, the fluttery feeling in his chest happening all over again. The repetition of  “pound it”  over and over and over again. Knuckles against knuckles. Her head on his shoulder. Love. So much love. For her. The love she holds for him, although not the same, but enough for him-  _ always  _ enough for him.

Different blue eyes. The same color, but a different feeling and girl to accompany them. 

_Marinette_.

Handing her that umbrella, watching it snap over her head, her face as she pulls it away from her face and laughs with him. Her lucky charm- now  his  lucky charm. Her stammers and soft pink cheeks, her arms around his neck and his hands pressed into her hips. Pulling her in close by the shoulder for a selfie. Her hair falling around her face during the day spent with Kagami. Fencing with her for the first time, running from his fans together. Her infinite kindness and self sacrificing nature, the freckles crossing across her nose like endless stars. Lips pressed to his cheek.

And _wow had he loved that girl this entire time?_

Neon green surrounded by black, a whining voice echoing in his ears.

Plagg.

A constant presence, a source of power, and most importantly  _love_.  So much love Adrien can’t believe it all fit inside his tiny body. Staring contests that ended with slow blinks repeated back and forth. Adrien read once that cats did that to show their love, he never stopped doing it after he found that out. Purrs against his chest when Plagg thought he was sleeping, tiny claws pricking against his skin during panic attacks.  _Kid_.  He would say. The  _ my  _ was implied but never said. The constant stream of  _ fuck Gabriel Agreste  _ that never seemed to stop coming out of his fanged mouth.

After all this is said and done, Adrien would be sure to let Plagg know that he’s his best friend  even  more so than Nino.

Warm brown eyes, a red cap beginning to fade.

_Nino_.

A chill and steady voice, a reassuring hand on his shoulder. This was the boy who loved him so much he got akumatized for him. Always inviting him out even knowing it was a likely  _ no  _ just so Adrien knows he’s wanted even if he can’t be there.  _Dude, bro, Adrien_.  The smell of spice, the way every move he made was like its own song. He turned life into a melody with an ease that never failed to amaze him. His first  human  friend, his first  real  friend.

Sassy voice, boisterous laugh that envelops his being with every pitch.

_Alya._

Elbows softly jabbing into his ribs, knowing glances, and teasing tones. Always taking photos of the friend group, even if she couldn’t make it in. Crazy schemes to sneak him out of the house so he could be a teenager for once. A casual retort about him being pretty, snickering at the aftermath.

He’s pretty sure she’s the coolest girl in the world, perfect for Nino, the coolest guy in the world. He would be sure to tell her if- _when_ the cure fixes him.

Blonde hair, fingers wrapped around his arm to pull him in.

_Chloé._

Friend couldn't even describe this girl, they had grown up with one another. The blonde was his sister, in all ways except blood. High pitched coos, giddy smiles, and face masks. He knew she wasn’t the best person out there, but she was trying if only for him. Even with her _better-than-you_ mentality, she had always called him out when he refused to admit he wasn’t okay. He hadn’t been spending enough time with her as of late, maybe they could have a sleepover once he’s back.  
  
Mysterious eyes, soft grin.

_Kagami._

Knowing tones, saber against saber, sneaking away from their parents just to have a moment to breathe like teenagers. Admitting fears to open air, hands biting into railing, fumbled handholding of two kids that didn’t know what it’s like to truly want to be with someone. Too similar backgrounds and various forms of parental issues they couldn’t touch on in a million conversations.

Adrien would have to thank her for being his first proper date, even though it turns out they’re not compatible.

Cold eyes, an empty presence.

_His father._

Why did he have to think of him while his life fades out of him? The man gave him life but sure as hell did a bad job at making sure it’s a good one. Biting tones, refusal to let him be himself-

Why did Adrien love him again?

Tunneling, the feelings fade like walls closing in. Oh boy, Adrien’s always been claustrophobic. No more pain, just a heaviness setting on his chest and sobbing in his ears. His eyes open meeting with the white puffy clouds above him. Plagg is purring against the crook of his neck, his rumble not even stopping when they make eye contact like it normally does. He’s exhausted, his purrs stuttered and weak against his pulse. Adrien supposes that he kept him in the suit until after the ladybug cure to keep him intact. He resists a shiver at that image.

Back to the world of the living.

Boy, did he miss it.

The heaviness on his chest lightens and soon blue eyes and dark hair is all he can see. Hands pressed into his shoulders, Marinette Dupain-Cheng in all her glory leans over him, fingers pressed into the cotton of his shirt.

The panic comes quickly, he’s detransformed and Plagg is quite noticeably on display. Why is he so afraid of his identity being discovered when he had just  died?

“Chaton, oh god you scared me, can you hear me?” Adrien’s heart stutters in his chest.

“Y-yeah, I’m okay.” He hoarsely says. The healing cure had brought him back to life and fixed him, but it couldn’t fix the emotions tearing through him right now. Tears leak down the corners of his cheeks and sob rips from his lips before he can stop them.

He had died. Fuck he really died.

“It’s okay, shh, your lady is here. I’ll take care of you.” Marinette’s shaking hands are cupping his cheeks, thumbs wiping away his tears as fast as they fall.

He’s not even surprised by this revelation. He nods in response, hands searching to pull her into him. She lets him pull her in and curls into his side, opposite of the still purring kwami. Her hand firmly places itself above his heart to feel his heartbeat beneath her trembling palm. Hell, all of her is trembling, tensed against his side like she’s afraid he will fade between her grasp all over again. She’s pressing kisses into his hairline, over and over again, between mumbled  _I love you_ ’s .

“I love you too,” and he really does. He really fucking does.

He’s going to love and treasure this girl with every inch of his being, even more so than he already had. He’s going to give Plagg that extra bit of cheese, vocalize how much he loves him even if he finds it embarrassing. Tomorrow he’s going to grab Nino and squeeze him so hard that he lifts him straight off the ground. Next time he saw Chloé he’s going to let her hold onto him for as long as she wants and hold onto her twice as long. Give Alya that interview she’s been begging for from Chat, remind her that she’s one of his closest friends as Adrien. Fence a little harder for Kagami, tell her he’s so proud of her.

Then there’s his dad. His _father_ has spent a good portion of his life controlling him, making him feel small, and Adrien _let_ him. He’s not going to stand down anymore, he’s going to live his life the way he wants to from now on.   
  
As for Adrien? He’s going to live life as fully as he can, no more hiding behind model smiles, and being what he’s expected to be. No more rigid schedules and lack of freedom.

Adrien might’ve thought about dying before, but he never imagined living could feel quite like this.


End file.
